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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 58 |
The torrent of wrath poring out of his eyes made Sherry freeze momentarily, but she had had years of dealing with patients to know one thing about sudden outbursts. She knew when the perpetrator was directing anger at a specific target, but in reality, was really directing it inwardly toward himself. Though the chilling effect of his manner was very real, she chose to ignore it and switch on her professional instincts.
"Then what is that, Nick? Go ahead...tell me...I'd really like to know."
Tea Manning? There can only be one woman who's Hispanic with that last name. This is she...the wife that Nick referred to...the one that Todd paid five million to. As he fought to recover from his astonishment, his eyes moved admiringly over her-- taking in her attractive, shapely figure and her lightly bronzed skin. Something about the way she carried herself reminded him of someone....
Slider extended his hand to shake the one she offered him. "Please...sit down."
Tea looked briefly at the cluttered desk and smiled as she saw the small cartoon figurines. Not unlike something he would do...he always had a pile of junk on his desk...
"I'll get right to the point, Mr. Paxton...may I call you Slider? I know you're not here on a Saturday for no good reason and your time is valuable."
"Slider's fine," he said and waited with mounting interest for her to resume.
"Thank you. I wouldn't have barged in on you like this, but I wanted to come by and check out the University. Then I just decided to find your office. I know I'm not making much sense. You see, Slider...I'm on a kind of mission....I'm trying to locate my husband, and I think you might know him."
Viki stood outside and took in a breath of the fresh air--trying to instill some life back into her drained body. The service was over, and with dread, she waited for some of the guests to come up to her and offer their condolences. A warm hand slipped into hers and squeezed gently.
"How are you doing?" Sam's voice filtered down to her.
"I'm good...I'm okay," she said convincingly, knowing that he would spot anything shaky in her response.
Sam's hand left hers as he saw a couple of people make their way to her. Blair...and Max...
"Viki, it was just beautiful....I hope I sounded...well, you know...it was hard for me," Blair said with a pouty look as she put a comforting hand on Viki's arm.
"You were fine, Blair...I appreciate it that you wanted to come... and that you spoke."
Blair sighed and looked back at Max who seemed to have deliberately faded into the background. "Well, everyone in this town knows our history, but he was Starr's father, and....once upon a time, my husband."
"He had many happy memories with you...and Starr," Viki said smiling faintly.
Max shuffled his feet and looked away to hide his irritation. Yeah...wonderful memories..
"Well, Viki...and Sam," Blair nodded at him. "Max and I have to get back to Starr...she's been asking some questions, and we've had to keep it quiet. I know I'm going to have to deal with it sooner or later."
"Just be honest, Blair. Children don't want to be lied to," Viki said somewhat sternly.
Max opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Taking Blair's arm, he pulled her away with authority and gave Viki a smirky smile. "Nice service, Viki. Come on, Blair."
Viki watched as Max maneuvered Blair to his car. Shaking her head, she voiced her opinion to the man standing next to her. "What a pair!"
Nick heard the combative challenge in her voice, but he wasn't really listening. He was looking...at her...being drawn into the entrancing quality of her eyes, and toward the smooth, supple texture of her lips. It was happening again...he was losing it in front of her, and the power he exuded over others was rapidly abdicating its throne. You're tearing me up...
Within seconds, the snarling appearance registering on his face moved off and the look replacing it caused panic to finally surface from within her. Long strands of his hair fell forward across his cheeks, but they didn't hide the barely disguised anguish and the raw, unprotected emotion coming from his eyes. His shoulders heaved and caved in with the sheer force of his breathing, and his warm breath blanketed her neck.
"I need...this!"
"I did know your husband, Mrs. Manning...a long time ago."
Tea looked into the striking blue eyes of the man sitting in the desk across from her and got a sense of what she knew already. This man was Todd's friend once...they shared something special...I know it! Everything in his manner suggested caring and compassion, and she suddenly felt as if she could tell him anything...anything at all.
"I...I didn't know where to start, but I had a name...a name written down in his address book, and I knew it might lead me back into his past. That's what I need to find out, Slider...about his past. He's...he's in trouble."
At that moment, Slider wished with everything in him that he hadn't decided to come into the office. This whole damn thing is moving too fast...way too fast. Nick had just this morning revealed more than he had ever bargained for, and now here was his wife...no, Todd's wife, searching for a man who was perilously close to not existing anymore. I have to stall her...keep her from him...she could ruin any chance I have of getting Z back.
Last night his move on her had been sudden and unexpected, and the shock of it had kept her from really understanding what she was feeling. This time his eyes were looking hungrily at her mouth as his lips drove toward hers in continuous slow motion --almost as if she were seeing a frame-by-frame movement. As she moved instinctively to push her hands against his chest to ward him off, his fingers captured hers in the air and interlaced with them -- pushing her hands back up sharply against the wood of the door -- his body twisting so that every part of him melded into her. A half-inch away from her lips, he stopped, and she trembled at his brazen nearness and the way his imperious eyes dictated to her.
"It's still your call...go on Sherry...tell me to stop."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Manning, but I don't see how I can help you...especially since it's been reported that Todd Manning is...well..."
"Dead," Tea inserted the missing word -- her eyebrows lifting slightly as she stared boldly back at him. "That is the word you're looking for, isn't it?"
All I want to do is go home...wherever that is...funny, it hasn't been the same, and I know it's because of him. Viki plastered a smile on her face as another group of attendees made their way over to her. If she could only get past this, she could go back to Llanfair and think of what she would do next. Lifting her head in a pristine fashion, she waited for the onslaught of greeters.
John Sykes passed by Delgado as he walked down the aisle and their eyes locked briefly. Neither man spoke, but each silently acknowledged the presence of the other. As Sykes moved toward the entrance, he felt the very familiar vibration of his muted cell phone.
"Yes...what is it?" Sykes spoke low into the phone.
"Edwards here, sir...I think we may have something on Tea Manning. Apparently she was hiding out with one of the locals in Angel Square."
"Was? Well, where is she now?"
"That we're still working on. It is pretty strange that she's being so mysterious all of a sudden after his death. I think you were right about tracking her."
"Don't let up on this...I think we're getting closer. You'd better be careful...the Feds are still hanging around here...I want to find her before they do."
"Sure...I'll pass the word."
Sykes flipped back the phone cover and shot another glance back at Delgado. That bullheaded Puerto Rican isn't going to go away just yet, but sooner or later, he'll be ordered to leave. Whatever it is that your little sister is hiding, Delgado, we're going to get the jump on it. Smoothing out a nonexistent wrinkle in his expensive dark summer suit, Sykes sauntered out the door.
She never bought it that you were dead, Z...why? What else does she know?
"Mrs. Manning..."
"Tea... please... if you don't mind...."
"Tea...I read in the paper that his car went over a cliff and burned up. You're telling me that this isn't true?"
Tea's brown eyes deepened and her voice became ominously low. "I'm telling you that all they found was a charred automobile...nothing more."
The awareness of being powerless reverberated through Sherry and heightened her panic, but as the seconds passed, this panic melted down into another, more alarming and potentially dangerous sensation. Stubbornly she tried to deny the strength of her attraction to him, as well as the sudden, stimulating arousal of passion long immersed in some forgotten sea of her emotions. As his eyes raked over her with longing, she began to understand something else -- she was really the one who had power over him.
Inside his eyes a pure, naked vulnerability betrayed him. All his callous remarks had masked a hidden desperation, and looking straight at him, she saw the inner pleading behind the assured manner. If she hadn't seen this, she knew she would have spoken and halted everything that was happening between them. Instead, the stunning revelation that she was staring back at the face of her own loneliness, left her numb and silent.
Nick waited and seemed to identify with the conflict taking place within her, and the firm pressure of his hands on hers relaxed to allow her to move if she wanted to. Realizing that he had reined in his desire in spite of the intensity of what he was feeling, a new insight into the full measure of the man she was dealing with pushed through to her. Beyond his obvious physical need was something much more gripping...you care about me.
In the four years that she had known Slider, she knew that he had also cared about her, but he had never moved past the superficial politeness of their relationship, and the sad truth of this fact had been her cold reality. Now a virtual stranger had zoomed ahead of him in just a matter of days...swiftly overtaking her and inviting her lonely heart to join his own.
Her response was barely perceptible, but she didn't have the courage to do more -- such was the unsteady footing of her resolve. The small, delicate fingers of her hands slowly began to squeeze the palms of his hands -- as if to close the gap that he had offered up to her. The pupils of his brooding eyes widened the instant he felt the change in her touch, and his lips parted halfway in a hesitant smile -- as if he were still not sure of what she wanted to happen. Tentatively he shifted his large shoulders and body, pressing even closer into her soft curves, and resting there -- still waiting for some sign that he had trespassed into unwelcome territory.
Sherry's expression transformed as her once icy exterior melted under
the
heat of his gaze, and Nick's mouth tingled as he saw her resistance
fade away
into nothingness. With final acceptance that she wanted him, his
fingers
possessively closed around hers -- his dark, expressive eyes lighting
up as
powerful jolts of elation rocketed through him. For once I'm going to
have
someone...someone all my own...and no one...not even you,
Toddy...will
take her away from me! Then with the spirit of an exultant
conqueror, his
mouth touched hers with an all-consuming force as he took full
possession of
his beautiful prize.
